Increasing Access to College


Book Description

At a time when college enrollment rates for low income and under-represented students are far below those of non-minority students, policies and practices designed to increase access should be a priority for colleges, universities, high schools, and community agencies. Increasing Access to College examines pre-college enrichment programs that offer a specific and immediate remedy.




The State of College Access and Completion


Book Description

Despite decades of substantial investments by the federal government, state governments, colleges and universities, and private foundations, students from low-income families as well as racial and ethnic minority groups continue to have substantially lower levels of postsecondary educational attainment than individuals from other groups. The State of College Access and Completion draws together leading researchers nationwide to summarize the state of college access and success and to provide recommendations for how institutional leaders and policymakers can effectively improve the entire spectrum of college access and completion. Springboarding from a seminar series organized by the Advisory Committee on Student Financial Assistance, chapter authors explore what is known and not known from existing research about how to improve student success. This much-needed book calls explicit attention to the state of college access and success not only for traditional college-age students, but also for the substantial and growing number of "nontraditional" students. Describing trends in various outcomes along the pathway from college access to completion, this volume documents persisting gaps in outcomes based on students’ demographic characteristics and offers recommendations for strategies to raise student attainment. Graduate students, scholars, and researchers in higher education will find The State of College Access and Completion to be an important and timely resource.




Expanding College Access for Urban Youth


Book Description

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Rewarding Strivers


Book Description

" "Rewarding Strivers" presents provocative research and analysis that provides a blueprint for the way forward."--William R. Fitzsimmons, Dean of Admissions, Harvard University "The terrible 'secret' of higher education in America is that too few students from poorer families have access to it.... Kahlenberg again gathers the best thinkers on how to challenge this status quo."--Anthony Marx, President, Amherst College Today, higher education is a major force in promoting social mobility, yet colleges and universities seem more concerned with prestige than finding ways to make higher learning more accessible. Rewarding Strivers outlines two high-profile models that colleges and universities can follow in making the American Dream a realistic one for all students. Former New York Times education writer Edward B. Fiske (author of The Fiske Guide to Colleges) explores an exciting new effort to provide extra financial aid and academic support to low-income students at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He finds that the "Carolina Covenant" has much to teach public and private universities across the country. In order to benefit from financial aid and support, low-income students first must be admitted to college. In a chapter that is likely to prove highly controversial, Georgetown University's Anthony Carnevale and Jeff Strohl articulate a coherent and concrete way for colleges and universities to provide a leg up to economically disadvantaged students in selective college admissions. The authors make an important contribution to the nation's raging debate over affirmative action by calling on universities to expand preferences beyond race to also include socioeconomic status, and outlining how such a program could work in practice.




Expanding College Access for Urban Youth


Book Description

This timely book demonstrates why there needs to be a more thoughtful and collaborative effort on the part of K–12 schools, as well as institutions of higher education, to provide better college access to students from low-income communities. Building on a 10-year case study of a successful school-university partnership, the authors examine the supports, mentoring, and resources needed to transform the college opportunities and life chances for under-represented urban youth. Featuring first-hand accounts from student participants, the book documents how the model provided college access to some of the most selective and prestigious universities across the nation. Because this partnership situates college access within a social justice framework, it is one of the more unique programs in the country. “Few social problems are of more pressing importance than the challenge of increasing access to higher education. Howard, Tunstall, and Flennaugh carefully outline those problems and give us our marching orders. Historical. Empirical. Well-written. Thoughtful. Provocative. This book is useful for all of us concerned about access and equity in education.” —William G. Tierney, professor & co-director, Pullias Center for Higher Education, University of Southern California “This book represents a moral and ethical call to any of us who believe in an educational pipeline for liberty, humanity, possibility, and justice for all—everyday!” —H. Richard Milner IV, Helen Faison Professor of Urban Education, University of Pittsburgh Contributors: Irene Atkins, Bree Blades, Jon Carroll, Whitney Gouche, Tr’Vel Lyons, Justyn Patterson, Jerry Morrison, Michelle Smith, Ashley V. Williams




Black Male Collegians: Increasing Access, Retention, and Persistence in Higher Education


Book Description

Improving college access and success among Black males has garnered tremendous attention. Many social scientists have noted that Black men account for only 4.3% of the total enrollment at 4-year postsecondary institutions in the United States, the same percentage now as in 1976. Furthermore, two thirds of Black men who start college never finish. The lack of progress among Black men in higher education has caused researchers, practitioners, and policymakers to become increasingly focused on ways to increase their access and success. Offering recommendations and strategies to help advance success among Black males, this monograph provides a comprehensive synthesis and analysis of factors that promote the access, retention, and persistence of Black men at diverse institutional types (e.g., historically Black colleges and universities, predominantly White institutions, and community colleges). It delineates institutional policies, programs, practices, and other factors that encourage the success of Black men in postsecondary education. This is the 3rd issue of the 40th volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education issue, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.




Improving Research-Based Knowledge of College Promise Programs


Book Description

Also known as “free tuition” and “free college” programs, college promise programs are an emerging approach for increasing higher education attainment of people in particular places. To maximize the effectiveness of their efforts and investments, program leaders and policymakers need research-based evidence to inform program design, implementation, and evaluation. With the goal of addressing this knowledge need, this volume presents a collection of research studies that examine several categories and variations of college promise programs. These theoretically grounded empirical investigations use varied data sources and analytic techniques to examine the effects of college promise programs that have different design features and operate in different places. Individually and collectively, the results of these studies have implications for the design and implementation of promise programs if these programs are to create meaningful improvements in attainment for people from underserved groups. The authors’ efforts also provide a useful foundation for the next generation of college promise research.




College Choice and Access to College


Book Description

Faced with continuing racial and social stratification, higher education institutions seek ways to increase access to the postsecondary education environment for increasingly diverse student populations in the United States. Attention to the preparation of students for college, changes in policies addressing financial aid and the K-20 schooling environment, and movement away from comprehensive models of college choice are characteristics of recent research examining the ways students from different backgrounds determine whether or where to go to college. This volume explores the nuances of the college choice process, focusing specifically on the experiences of students of color and students from lower socieconomic backgrounds, summarizing the extensive body of literature that shapes practice, policy, and research around college choice. This is the fourth issue in the 35th volume of the Jossey-Bass series ASHE Higher Education Report. Each monograph in the series is the definitive analysis of a tough higher education problem, based on thorough research of pertinent literature and institutional experiences. Topics are identified by a national survey. Noted practitioners and scholars are then commissioned to write the reports, with experts providing critical reviews of each manuscript before publication.




Expanding Access to College in America


Book Description




Innovations in Improving Access to Higher Education


Book Description

Gaining an understanding about the barriers in transitioning from high school to college is crucial to improving college access and matriculation—particularly for low-income families and first-generation college-goers. These obstacles include many factors, such as: Lack of access to resources at home or school Not having a rigorous college-preparatory curriculum or not taking advantage of these courses Misperceptions about the college-going process. This volume introduces innovative and effective ways to ease the transition process. One essential question examined is the role of high schools and whether they should take a more active role in preparing students for college. While some interventions in this issue are designed for school-wide implementation, others are more targeted and focus on certain aspects of the college process such as financial aid, but all recognize the role of high schools in shaping students’ college-going aspirations and behavior. By including the most cutting-edge and rigorous research on improving college access, this volume: Delineates the obstacles adolescents face in their transition from high school to college Increases understanding of the mechanisms contributing to gaps in college enrollment Highlights how interventions can help to ease these challenges. This is the 140th volume of New Directions for Youth Development, the Jossey-Bass quarterly report series dedicated to bringing together everyone concerned with helping young people, including scholars, practitioners, and people from different disciplines and professions.